Hand tool for opening cans



Jan. 30, 1968 c. A. YOUNG HAND TOOL FOR OPENING CANS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 21, 1965 INVENTOR CLAUDE A. YOUNG ATTORNEYS Jan. 30, 1968 c. A. YOUNG 3,366,085

HAND TOOL FOR OPENING CANS Filed Oct. 21, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR CLAU D E A. YOUNG ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,366,085 HAND TOOL FOR OPENING CANS Claude A. Young, 126 N. Kensington St., La Grange, Ill. 60525 Filed Oct. 21, 1965, Ser. No. 499,377 7 Claims. (Cl. 113-1) My invention relates to a hand tool for opening cans, and more particularly, to a hand tool that not only opens cans without cutting or tearing the metal in any way, but which handles cans of all sizes and shapes even if badly dented.

My Patent 3,006,303 granted Oct. 31, 1961, discloses a can opening arrangement that eliminates the need to cut cans to get them open, together with consequent formation of metal fragments that drop into the food, and instead opens the can by unfolding the rim of the can end or closure from the rim of the can body.

Most cans are made up of a tubular metal body and two closure or end portions, and such cans may be disclike in shape in the case of cans of the type which vegetables and fruits or the like are packaged, or they might be elongated in shape in the case of containers for sardines, hams, and the like. The elements or component parts of the can are secured together by placing the rim of a can end or closure and the'rim of a can body together (at the end of the can body to which the can closure is to be secured) and bending the rims over against the outside surface of the can body in such a manner that a ridge is formed which projects outwardly from the end of the can. The folding action is such that a portion of the can end or closure rim is interposed between the can body and the can body rim. This together with an appropriate seal interposed between the rims provides a complete packaging seal.

The invention of my said patent contemplates the opening of the cam by separating the rim of the can closure from the rim of the can body, that is, by un-doing the assembly process.

One problem encountered in opening cans in this manner is that the cans are frequently dented by the time they are received by those who are going to want to open them. The denting may be caused by a variety of occurrences, and frequently results in the can ridge being bent either inwardly or outwardly of the can sidewall, or perhaps even being pushed flat into the can body.

This bending of the can ridge so distorts the ridge that a mechanized or semi-mechanized opener of the types disclosed in my said patent cannot adequately perform their function due to the displacement of the ridge from its normal contour.

A principal object of this invention is to provide a hand tool for opening cans that may be employed to first straighten out the dented can ridge and then used to open up the can by unfolding the ridge to separate the can closure and body rims from each other.

Another principal object of the invention is to provide a simplified hand tool for opening cans in the manner indicated that employs the plier type constructural arrangement with the result that the benefits of my can opening method of said patent may be had in places where it is not practical to have mechanized or semimechanized tools.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a hand tool type can opener that can be readily operated by the housewife, to provide a hand tool type can opener that may be employed to reclose the can closure or end about the can if it is desired to temporarily store the food within the can, and to provide a can opening can tool that is economical of manufacture, convenient in use, and

3,366,085 Patented Jan. 30, 1968 readily adapted for opening a wide variety of can types and shapes.

Still other objects, uses, and advantages will be obvious or become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description and the application drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of one embodiment of my invention;

FIGURE 2 is an end view taken from the left-hand side of FIGURE 1;

FIGURES 3 and 4 are diagrammatic side elevational and end views of the hand tool anvil and wedge elements that form the principal features of the present invention;

FIGURE 5 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view through a can diagrammatically illustrating the component parts of the can ridge and the manner in which my hand tool is applied thereto for purposes of commencing the can opening operation;

FIGURES 6 and 7 are similar to FIGURE 5 'but illustrate two of the procedural steps in opening the can;

FIGURES 8, 9, and 10 are similar to FIGURES 6 and 7 but illustrate the positioning of the hand tool for further sequential steps in opening the can;

FIGURES 11 and 12 illustrate the manner in which an inwardly dented can ridge portion is straightened out for purposes of opening the can; and

FIGURES 13 and 14 illustrate the manner in which an outwardly deflected can ridge portion is straightened out for the can opening function.

However, it is to be distinctly understood that the specific drawing illustrations provided are supplied primarily to comply with the requirements of the Patent Code and that the invention may have other embodiments that will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

General description Reference numeral 10 of FIGURE 1 generally indicates a hand tool embodying the present invention which comprises an anvil jaw generally indicated at 12 and a wedge jaw generally indicated at 14 that are applied to adjacent ends 16 and 18 of cross levers 20 and 22 that are pivotally connected together as by bolt 24 for a plierlike gripping action.

The levers 20 and 22 are each provided with a hand gripping portion 26 and 28 whereby jaws 12 and 14 are moved toward each other about the pivot provided by bolt 24. Coil compression spring 30 biases the jaws 12 and 14 to their illustrated open position which is defined by adjustable stop devices indicated at 32.

The device 10 is adapted for opening containers such as the can generally indicated at 40 in FIGURE 5, which represents the well-known widely used form of container that is sealed by having the rim or flange 42 of the can body 44 and the rim or flange 46 of the can end or closure 48 placed together and bent over against the outer surface 50 of the can body 44. Ordinarily, a sealant material is applied between the rims 42 and 46 where indicated at 52 and the can end is dished somewhat so that ridge 58 is formed by the bent over and interlocked rims 42 and 46. It will be found that most cans in use today are sealed in the manner indicated in FIGURE 5 and this is ordinarily done by machines of a Well-known design that require no specific description.

In accordance with this invention, the hand tool 10 is operated in the manner indicated by FIGURES 6-10 to separate the can end or closure 40 from the can body.

In the steps of FIGURES 6 and 7, the hand tool is put in the position shown in FIGURE 6 with the anvil jaw 12 in engagement with the upper end 60 of the can ridge and with the wedge jaw 14 in engagement with l the rounded edge 62 defined by the doubled over portion of the can closure rim 46, and up into the angular pocket 64 that is defined by the closure rim 46 and the can body surface 50. The handle portions 26 and 28 of the levers 20 and 22 are then pressed together to drive the wedge member upwardly of the ridge 58 which forms a web shaped pocket having the sectional configuration indicated in FIGURE 7; this spaces the portion of the turned over rims 42 and 46 a corresponding amount from the can body surface 50. The handle portions 26 and 28 are then released and the tool moved about the circumference of the can to dispose the jaws 12 and 14 at the end of the pocket 66, whereupon the handle portions 26 and 28 are clamped together to form another pocket 66. This is done in a consecutive manner about the circumference of the ridge 58 so that the entire ridge has the opened up configuration shown in section in FIGURES 7 and 8.

The hand tool is then turned over 180 degrees (as about an axis extending longitudinally of the hand tool) to position the anvil jaw 12 under the edge portion 62 of the ridge 58 and the wedge jaw 14 in engagement with the now outwardly inclined surface 70 of the ridge 58. The handle portions 26 and 28 are then gripped by the user to get a secure grip on the turned over rims 42 and 46 and then the hand tool is swung from the position of FIGURE 8 to the position of FIGURE 9, which has the effect of flexing the rim 46 of the can closure upwardly and away from the rim 22 of the can body.

The hand tool is then released and repositioned at a point about the periphery of the ridge 58 at a point adjacent the upstanding portion formed by the swinging of the tool from the position of FIGURE 8 and FIGURE 9, and then the operation is repeated. This same process is employed about the circumference of the can ridge until the entire ridge components have the general configuration shown in FIGURE 9, and on the last operation of hand tool 10 that is required to give the full configuration of FIGURE 9 the hand tool is swung further in the manner indicated by FIGURE 10 to separate the can lid or end from the can.

It will thus be apparent that the hand tool 10 separates the can closure or lid from the can body without requiring any penetration whatsoever of the can. Moreover, the can closure cannot fall into the can because of the shape of the closure rim 46, and the can closure or lid is in fact shaped so that it will serve as a removable sealing closure for the can. When the can lid is re-applied to the can by reinserting it to the position indicated in FIGURE 9, it may be pressed down within the can body and then the hand tool 10 operated in the reverse of the manner indicated in FIGURES 8 and 9 to substantially re-lock the can opening.

In the event that the can ridge 58 is distorted by having been bent inwardly of the can body surface 50, as suggested by the showing of FIGURE 11, the ridge is gripped by the hand tool 10 in the manner indicated in FIGURE 11, and when the hand tool is swung to the position of FIGURE 12, the ridge will be straightened sufficiently to perform the opening function described above. This may be done as many times as necessary about the circumference of the ridge to put the can ridge in can opening configuration.

If the can ridge 58 has been deformed outwardly of the can body as indicated by the showing of FIGURE 13, the hand tool is positioned in engagement with a can ridge in the manner indicated in FIGURE 13 and swung to the position of FIGURE 14 whereupon the ridge is restored at that position for the can opening operation described above. Similarly, the ridge 58 is operated on at spaced points about its periphery to restore the ridge bent portion to the position necessary for the can opening operation.

It will thus be seen that my can opening arrangement of this invention is not only readily adapted to cans of any shape and size, but that cans with dented rims are readily restored for easy can opening performance.

Furthermore, the hand tool 10 can be operated anywhere in the World Without requiring power supplying facilities and is readily usable under situations where mechanized or semimechanized can openers would not be practical.

Specific description Anvil jaw 12 generally comprises in the form illustrated an insert formed from a suitable grade of tool steel or the like which is generally quadrilateral in configuration and defines a forward can body engaging abutment surface 82 that extends generally parallel to the operational path of movement of the jaw 12. The anvil jaw 12 further comprises a working surface 84 that inclines away from the wedge jaw 84 rearwardly of (that is, in the direction of handle portions 26 and 28) said anvil jaw forward surface 82 at an angle that is on the order of 85 degrees with respect to said surface 82.

Surface 84 intersects surface 82 at a relatively sharp or abrupt edge 86, and surface 82 is substantially rectilinear laterally of jaw 12.

The insert 80 fits in a complementarily formed recess 83 formed in lever 22 and is held in place by a suitable screw 90.

The wedge jaw 14 comprises an insert 92 formed from material similar to that of insert 80 and defines a forward abutment surface 94 that is adapted to engage the can body surface 50 when the tool is in the position of FIGURES 5 and 6.

Wedge jaw 14 is formed to define a wedge shaped working end portion 96 that is directed toward the end surface 84 of anvil jaw 12 and projects generally parallel to the planes of relative movement between said jaws. The end portion 96 of the wedge jaw terminates in a wedge tip 98 that is convexly curved laterally of the jaws and that is proportioned to enter between the doubled over portions of the can rims 42 and 46 to form the above described pocket 66 when the handle portions 26 and 28 of the hand tool are clamped together by the operator.

The tip 98 of the wedge jaw 14 is defined by a working surface 100 that is convexly curvilinear laterally of the jaw 14 and inclines away from the jaw 12 and rearwardly of the jaw 14 abutment surface 94 at an angle on the order of 60 degrees.

It will be noted that the working surface 100 of jaw 14 merges into the abutment surface 94 thereof at a sharp convexly curved edge portion 102 and as indicated in FIGURE 1, the edge portion 102 is disposed in alignment with the anvil jaw working surface 94 and is spaced rearwardly of the abutment surface 82 of the anvil jaw (this spacing should be on the order of .04 inch).

The abutment surface 94 at its portion 104 adjacent edge portion 102 is generally parallel to the abutment surface 82 of the jaw 12, but at a point spaced about /8 of an inch from the portion of edge 102 that is closest to surface 84 the abutment surface 94 is angled at about an angle on the order of 5 degrees.

The insert 92 fits into a complementarily shaped recess formed in the lever 20 and is held in place by a suitable screw 112.

The bolt 24 is held in place by a suitable lock nut indicated at in FIGURE 2.

Compression spring 30 is received over suitable studs 122 and 124 of the respective levers 20 and 22.

The stop devices 32 each comprise a lug portion formed on the respective lever members 20 and 22 which are threaded to receive an adjustment screw 132 provided with a knurled operating handle 134 and an abutment end 136 that is adapted to be positioned against an abutment surface 138 of the adjacent portion of the opposing lever. By appropriately setting the screws 132 by manipulating the knurled heads 134 the jaws 12 and 14 may be spaced apart an adequate distance to receive similarly sized can ridges 58, which makes for ease in handling the hand tool 10. Alternately, one of the devices 32 may be arranged with respect to one of the lever members 5. or 22 so as to serve as a stop for limiting the closure movement of jaws 12 and 14, as by changing the location of such device 32 so that its axis passes on the right side of nut 24, rather than the left side (with respect to the showing of FIGURE 1). Also, the closure limiting stop can be provided by appropriately shaping shoulder 140 to be engaged by lever 22, though in any event, the closure limiting stop should be proportioned so that tip 98 of jaw 14 is spaced slightly from surface 84 of jaw 12 in the closed position of the device to preclude deformation of these parts.

It will be noted that the relative positioning of the jaws 12 and 14 is such that when the tool is in the position of FIGURE 6 and abutment surface 94 of jaw 14 is placed in engagement with the surface 50 of can body 44, the working surface 84 of the jaw 12 will be properly disposed in working engagement with a portion of the ridge 58 that opposes the ridge edge portion 62, so that the opening steps of FIGURES 6 and 7 can be readily performed.

Also, the relative positioning of the two jaws is such that when the tool is in the position of FIGURE 8, with the surface 82 of jaw 12 placed in engagement with the surface 50 of can body 44, the edge portion 102 of jaw 14 engages a portion of the rim surface 70 that is outwardly of the can surface 50. This avoids having the sharp edge 102 engage the .top edge 60 of the ridge which would cause the rim of the can body to crack off at the bend at the top of the ridge 58 due to the re-bending action involved and would cause the rim of the can to be left in an upwardly directed hazardous position. The unfolded portion of the lid rim would remain engaged with the turned up portion of the body flange and would be difiicult and hazardous to remove.

It will also be noted that the jaws 12 and 14 are distinctly shaped to perform specific functions and the relative shapes of the jaws are entirely different.

It will be further noted that the specific stop devices 32 illustrated provide a stop arrangement for limiting the opening or space between the jaws 12 and 14 in the release position of the hand tool as distinguished from conventional pliers and the like which sometimes employ limiting screws to prevent the jaws from contacting each other. Lever 22 may be provided with bottle cap opening lug 142 if so desired, but this is considered optional and is eliminated in the preferred arrangement.

Jaws 12 and 14 may be formed directly on levers 20 and 22 if so desired but the insert arrangement illustrated is preferred.

The foregoing description and the drawings are given merely to explain and illustrate my invention and the invention is not to be limited thereto, except insofar as the appended claims are so limited, since those skilled in the art who have my disclosure before them will be able to make modifications and variations therein without departing from the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A hand tool for opening cans comprising:

an anvil jaw,

a wedge jaw,

said jaws being disposed in opposed relation, and defining forward abutment surfaces extending generally parallel to the planes of relative movement between said jaws, said anvil jaw being formed to define an external shoulder that is generally rectilinear laterally of said jaw and includes a working surface that inclines away from said wedge jaw in a direction rearwardly of said anvil jaw forward surface at an acute angle,

said wedge jaw being formed to define a wedge shaped working end portion directed toward said anvil jaw surface and projects parallel to the planes of relative movement between said jaws,

said end portion of said wedge jaw terminating in a wedge shaped tip that is convexly curved laterally of said jaws, said tip of said wedge jaw merging into said abutment surface of said wedge jaw at a sharp edge portion, said edge portion of said wedge jaw being disposed in alignment with said anvil jaw working surface and being spaced rearwardly of said abutment surface of said anvil jaw, and lever means for moving said jaws toward and away from each other. 2. A hand tool for opening cans of the type having, at each end thereof, the rim of the can closure overlying and extending beyond the rim of the can body and having said rims doubled over outwardly against the outer surface of the can body with the rim of the closure being folded over the rim of the can body to form a ridge that projects outwardly from the end of the can in which ridge a portion of the closure rim is interposed between the can body and the can body rim, said hand tool comprising:

an anvil jaw,

a wedge jaw,

said jaws being disposed in opposed relation, and defining forward abutment surfaces extending generally parallel to the planes of relative movement between said jaws, said anvil jaw being formed to define an external shoulder that is generally rectilinear laterally of said jaw and includes a working surface thatinclines away from said wedge jaw in a direction rearwardly of said anvil jaw forward surface at an acute angle,

said Wedge jaw being formed to define a wedge shaped working end portion directed toward said anvil jaw surface and projects parallel to the planes of relative movement between said jaws, said end portion terminating in a wedge tip that is convexly curved laterally of said jaws and is proportioned to enter between the doubled over portions of said can rims and the can body to form a pocket between said can rims and said can body when said jaws are brought together with said anvil jaw surface in engagement with the rim of said can ridge, said tip of said wedge jaw merging into said abutment surface of said wedge jaw at a sharp edge portion,

said edge portion of said wedge jaw being disposed in alignment with said anvil jaw working surface and being spaced rearwardly of said abutment surface of said anvil jaw,

said jaws being respectively made fast to adjacent ends of crossed levers pivotally connected together at their crossed portions with the other ends of said levers forming handles for moving said jaws toward each other,

and resilient means for biasing said jaws to an open position.

3. A hand tool for opening cans of the type having, at each end thereof, the rim of the can closure overlying and extending beyond the rim of the can body and having said rims doubled over outwardly against the outer surface of the can body with the rim of the closure being folded over the rim of the can body to form a ridge that projects outwardly from the end of the can in which ridge a portion of the closure rim is interposed between the can body and the can body rim, said hand tool comprising:

an anvil jaw,

a wedge jaw,

said jaws being disposed in opposed relation, and defining forward abutment surfaces extending generally parallel to the planes of relative movement between said jaws and adapted to be placed in engagement with the can body,

said anvil jaw being formed to define an external shoulder that is generally rectilinear laterally of said jaw and includes a working surface that inclines away from said wedge jaw in a direction rearwardly of said anvil jaw forward surface at an angle on the order of 85 degrees,

said wedge jaw being formed to define a wedge shaped working end portion directed toward said anvil jaw surface and projects parallel to the planes of relative movement between said jaws,

said end portion terminating in a wedge tip that is convexly curved laterally of said jaws and is proportioned to enter between the doubled over portions of said can rims and the can body to form a pocket between said can rims and said can body when said jaws are brought together with said anvil jaw surface in engagement with the rim of said can ridge and said wedge jaw abutment surface in engagement with the can body,

said tip of said wedge jaw being defined by a working surface that is convexly curvilinear laterally of said jaw and inclines rearwardly from said abutment surface of said wedge jaw at an angle on the order of 30 degrees,

said wedge jaw working surface merging into said wedge jaw abutment surface at a sharp convexly curved edge portion,

said edge portion of said wedge jaw being disposed in alignment with said anvil jaw working surface and being spaced rearwardly of said abutment surface of said anvil jaw,

said jaws being made fast to adjacent ends of crossed levers pivotally connected together plier fashion for providing relative movement of said jaws by pressing the other ends of said levers toward each other,

and resilient means for biasing said jaws to an open position.

4. The hand tool set forth in claim 3 including:

stop means for limiting the action of said resilient means to limit the opening between said jaws to a predetermined amount.

5. The hand tool set forth inv claim 3 wherein:

said abutment surface of said wedge jaw adjacent but spaced from said edge portion thereof inclines rearwardly of said edge portion at a flat angle.

6. The hand tool set forth in claim 3 wherein:

said lever adjacent ends define rounded fulcrum forming corners curving rearwardly of said abutment surfaces.

7. The hand tool set forth in claim 4 wherein said stop means comprises:

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,320,915 11/1919 Putra 81-426 2,255,641 9/1941 Arnesen. 2,7 00,9 10 2/ 1955 Van Neil.

RICHARD J. HERBST, Primary Examiner. 

1. A HAND TOOL FOR OPENING CANS COMPRISING: AN ANVIL JAW, A WEDGE JAW, SAID JAWS BEING DISPOSED IN OPPOSED RELATION, AND DEFINING FORWARD ABUTMENT SURFACES EXTENDING GENERALLY PARALLEL TO THE PLANES OF RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN SAID JAWS, SAID ANVIL JAW BEING FORMED TO DEFINE AN EXTERNAL SHOULDER THAT IS GENERALLY RECTILINEAR LATERALLY OF SAID JAW AND INCLUDES A WORKING SURFACE THAT INCLINES AWAY FROM SAID WEDGE JAW IN A DIRECTION REARWARDLY OF SAID ANVIL JAW FORWARD SURFACE AT AN ACUTE ANGLE, SAID WEDGE JAW BEING FORMED TO DEFINE A WEDGE SHAPED WORKING END PORTION DIRECTED TOWARD SAID ANVIL JAW SURFACE AND PROJECTS PARALLEL TO THE PLANES OF RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN SAID JAWS, SAID END PORTION OF SAID WEDGE JAW TERMINATING IN A WEDGE SHAPED TIP THAT IS CONVEXLY CURVED LATERALLY OF SAID JAWS, SAID TIP OF SAID WEDGE JAW MERGING INTO SAID ABUTMENT SURFACE OF SAID WEDGE JAW AT A SHARP EDGE PORTION, SAID EDGE PORTION OF SAID WEDGE JAW BEING DISPOSED IN ALIGNMENT WITH SAID ANVIL JAW WORKING SURFACE AND BEING SPACED REARWARDLY OF SAID ABUTMENT SURFACE OF SAID ANVIL JAW, AND LEVER MEANS FOR MOVING SAID JAWS TOWARD AND AWAY FROM EACH OTHER. 